


Cafe Duke

by JoyHeart



Category: The Princess and the Frog (2009)
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, One Sided Attraction, based on bits of speculation, but its fleeting, but not an au, more of a fondness than anything overtly romantic or sexual, sort of a coffee shop au lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-08-31 08:08:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8570947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoyHeart/pseuds/JoyHeart
Summary: Dr. Facilier is a common face at Cafe Duke even before Tiana started working there. Their first meeting, long before Naveen entered the picture, was much more pleasant than one would have expected.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I rewatched this movie today and my brain hooked onto two moments.  
> 1) Dr. Facilier is just reading the paper at Cafe Duke when Lotti and Big Daddy came in to gush about Prince Naveen being in town. Facilier wouldn't know that's where they would turn up, so that implied to me that Facilier might just frequent that ol' cafe, which means he might be quite familiar with Tiana even before the Naveen fiasco  
> 2) When Naveen finally explains why he is a frog, Tiana says something like, "You mean to tell me this all happened because you were messing with the Shadow Man?" Which means that a) Tiana is well aware of the Shadow Man, that he was dangerous and not to be messed with which is why she knows Naveen is an idiot for messing with him and b) as established Tiana works at the cafe he frequents so that implies she has served him coffee and maybe pastries and totally 100% knew he was some creepy deal making bad guy
> 
> Arguably with this I could have made a funnier narrative probably but whatever this is what you get.

That her skin matched the colour of his coffee exactly, was the first random thought Facilier had when she had delivered his morning cup to his table. She was definitely a new face, a bright teenage beauty full of dreams and hopes and wishes. Ripe for exploiting, definitely.

                “Howdy there Sugar, just leave the cream, I’m not much of a milk drinker,” he smiled his most winning smile which the young waitress returned.

                “Sure thing, sir! Care to try one of my soon-to-be-famous butter-town pastries? I promise they’ll make your mouth water something fierce!” the girl’s laugh was like bells. Too bad, Facilier was certain that if finding a good husband was among this girl’s dreams, she definitely wouldn’t need him to find that.

                _Pity, that,_ came a thought from the back of Facilier’s mind that he chose to push away as quick as it had come. The girl was young enough to be his daughter, if he’d ever bothered with trying to have a family.

                “I’d love to give it a try,” Facilier said smoothly.

                “Coming right up!” The girl said, her smile wide enough to sell a hundred pastries if she wanted to, The Shadow Man mused as she left to fill his order. He sipped his coffee and watched as the girl flitted from table to table and mused on what this girl might want enough to offer her soul, or at least her life savings for. Maybe even her family’s life savings if they had anything decent. Of course she would hardly be rich, but times had been getting tougher for Facilier since his less happy customers had been spreading word of his dealings.

                Not everyone yet knew of him of course. But there was bad feeling growing around him, and the more he dealt with his Friends on the Other Side the more he found his aura darkening. Someday perhaps even the average American fool might feel an air of menace when he walked by… but for now, it was better to entice as many people into deals as he could while he still could.

                “Here it is!” Facilier was abruptly broken from his musings as the perky waitress reappeared at his side, sliding a buttery, delicious smelling pastry in front of him.

                “Looks lovely, sweetheart,” Facilier smiled again, easily, picking it up and taking in a mouthful. Creamy but chewy, sweet and fulfilling. “Mm-mm, darling, you certainly have a gift!”

                Her smile was blinding again, but in that moment The Shadow Man realised the smile from before had been a forced, customer smile, as her eye gleamed in genuine delight at the praise. “Thank you sir! I tell you, when I’ve saved up enough, one day I’m going to have my own restaurant and this will be my specialty dessert!”

                “You’re going to open your own restaurant, huh?” Facilier asked, wheels already turning as the girl enthused and overshared as all teenagers do when someone indulges them, “That sounds really sweet. That’s your dream?”

                “Oh yes, it’s what I’ve always wanted. My daddy, he taught me how to cook, see. Well, it was always his dream to put up his own restaurant in that old sugar mill down by the docks! My daddy he… he died, actually, last year,” the girl bit her lip slightly here, “But that’s why I’m working here now, and when I’m done my schooling I’ll get more hours, and… and even a second job, but I’m going to work nonstop until I have enough to make Tiana’s Place a reality!”

                “Tiana? That’s your name?” Facilier couldn’t help but think the girl was especially beautiful when she lit up with her dreams behind her eyes. That girl dreamt big, he could tell that even without magical intervention.

                “Oh, ah, yes sir,” Tiana nodded, then jumped as the cook yelled for her to grab the next order. “I-I’m sorry sir, morning rush and all that.”

                “Not a problem, little sister, not a problem at all,” Facilier nodded and waved his hand, “You get back to work for that restaurant of yours.”

                “Oh, I will!” Tiana said as she hurried off.

                Facilier finished the pastry with gusto, hummed to himself, then left a generous tip on the table before he left.

                He’d have to come back tomorrow.

*

                Tiana was really a people person, that was for certain. Facilier couldn’t help but be impressed with the ease by which Tiana quelled the rage of even the most angry customer with a sincere look and a kind word. Charming to the last word.

                But that wasn’t what Facilier considered a marvel, lots of customer service professionals (himself included, if he did say so) could work like that. What was astounding was that Tiana didn’t see fit to talk badly of the bad customers even with the other waitresses or the cooks. In fact, Facilier was pretty sure that Tiana was just the sort who never got angry at all. Interesting, though maybe a bit lackluster.

                Facilier had been coming in for about a week now, and in that time he saw that Tiana clearly worked every morning of the week, leaving just fifteen minutes before high school started so she could rush down the street for her first class. She certainly put her all into achieving that dream of hers.

                He had been leaving her generous tips every day as well, which ensured the girl made sure to pay his small table more special attention than the others… though, admittedly, his constant praise probably made his company more enjoyable than the other patrons as well. He had also been sure to order a butter-town pastry every day as well. Those things really were fantastic. He needed to get the recipe somehow.

                Exactly a week from the day Tiana started working at Café Duke, an older man came in with his wife and young son. Clearly tourists, and tourists with money at that, they had been especially rude to Miss Tiana. Everything from complaining about food that was clearly made to perfection, to outright insulting Tiana’s intelligence to her face, and making LOUD comments about her, ahem, _background_ , when she left the table.

                If Facilier was making very calculated plans as to how to get that man into the absolutely most devastating and violently horrific deal possible, that was of course far more to do with him being an entitled, rich idiot, rather than the fact he was hurting the little waitress that always greeted The Shadow Man with a smile.

                Not to say Facilier didn’t still do that to the man who apparently wanted to be the greatest ruler in the world, certainly not to say he did or did not turn him into the most accurate and large wooden ruler to the horror filled gazes of his wife and child. Most certainly nothing is saying if he did or did not force the wife to sell her soul to turn her husband back into flesh and blood, and maybe it’s possible Facilier didn’t turn him into a literal pile of flesh and blood, leaving his son to lose his sanity at the sight.

                Not to say Facilier might have done any of that after Tiana left for school.

                But Facilier did have to admit he found it satisfying when the man began yelling at Tiana’s manager for incompetence, only to have Tiana jump in and tell him right off, saying that her manager worked harder than anyone she knew, and that if anyone was to blame it was Tiana, and if he dared say such rude words in front of the children again he would be asked to leave.

                The look on the man’s face after getting talked back to in such an angry voice by such a sweet young girl was satisfying. Watching the local officers escort the man out was more satisfying. But seeing his face as he screamed at the feeling of his organs crushing, compressing and turning to wood, that was REALLY satisfying.

                Or would have been, you know, if it had happened. And maybe it had.

*

                “Don’t you ever do anything other than work?” Facilier asked one morning when Tiana seemed to look particularly tired. “Surely you must be doing schoolwork when you get home at night, but you must go out with your friends sometime?”

                Tiana sighed deeply and pushed a hand through her hair with a weak smile. But a genuine smile. After coming for a couple months now, Facilier was getting pretty sure that Tiana only ever showed him genuine smiles anymore. He didn’t admit to feeling a little proud at that.

                “Well, sir-“

                “Please Tiana, I told you before, call me Facilier. Or even Faci, if that’s easier.”

                Tiana giggled a little, “Well, Facilier,” she emphasized in good humour, “I don’t really have time for dancing and playing around! If I want my dream to come true, I can’t be letting myself take the easy way, you know?”

                “Ah right, but you know,” Facilier said scratching at his chin, “As wonderful job as you do waitressing, I’m pretty sure that it’ll still be a long time before you can afford all the expenses of a restaurant as glamourous as you’re picturing.”

                “Well, th-that’s true but…” Tiana’s eyes got that endearing, determined spark he saw so often. “Even if I need to work ten years to get enough, it’ll all be worth it in the end!”

                Facilier chuckled, “You certainly are something else. Well, tell you what. Let’s make a little deal. I promise to keep coming to this here Café every day as long as you work here and will tip you a dollar for every coffee and pastry I get, and when you get that restaurant of yours, I get one free pastry for every meal I buy!” He winked and Tiana glowed.

                “Facilier, if you came every day and did that, I swear not only will you have your free pastry, but you’ll get the honour of a VIP table and a free meal every month!”

                “Well, can’t say no to a deal like that!” Facilier grinned and shook hands with the girl.

                And in that moment he sort of realised how much he liked those pastries, and how much he liked the girl who made them, and decided that maybe he didn’t really need her soul or saving after all.

                There were plenty of other suckers to scam in New Orleans anyway. He could leave one genuinely nice young girl alone. She didn’t come from much anyway.

                That rich plantation owner’s daughter he saw in here from time to time though, she might be worth something to him in the future. Best keep an eye open for a ripe opportunity.

*

                It was roughly six months after that promise was made that Facilier’s darker reputation finally reached the halls of Tiana’s high school. Facilier knew when one of Tiana’s school friends stopped by in the morning to say hi to Tiana (as they did on occasion, though had been less and less the longer Tiana worked there). The girl had frozen at the sight of him in his usual corner table. When Tiana came to greet them, they had pulled her aside.

Facilier shuffled out his newspaper and pretended to read as he pricked his ears to overhear the conversation, and what he heard sent equal parts of thrill and dread into his heart.

“ _No, Tiana listen, that’s the Shadow Man!”_

_“Shadow man?”_

_“Yes, my uncle dealt with him, wanted to get a wart removed from his cheek, but what he did to him… took all his money and my uncle’s face it… it’s not the same. That man is dangerous!”_

_“No, you’ve got it all wrong! Facilier is a very nice man, and gives great tips-“_

_“So? Maybe he’s just trying to get under your skirt-“_

_“WHAT? He’s twice my age at least! He’s just a good customer, and I don’t appreciate y’all trying to make me, I don’t know, treat him poorly based on rumour!”_

_“It’s not rumour! My uncle-“_

_“Your uncle left town! Your mother said so!”_

_“She’s just covering it up!”_

_“I’ve got to go back to work, but please don’t come and harass the customers!”_

_“I… oh, just watch out for yourself Tiana!”_

                Facilier felt a surge of relief. Looked like Tiana still believed in him for now. Bless her little heart. She filled his coffee mug and served him toast and pastry with a smile on her face as usual. Facilier grinned back and they exchanged their usual cheerful banter before her class, and Facilier would often think of that moment as she would never greet him with a smile again.

*

                “So. The ‘Shadow Man’ is it?” Tiana’s voice was cold, her eyes distant as she poured his coffee neat as you please.

                Facilier’s mouth drew into a tight line, his eyes gazing both at and through hers. “I’ve been known by that name, yes.”

                Tiana’s movements as she placed the pastry before him, (she hadn’t bothered asking his order, hadn’t for some time) were stiff. “I saw Rita’s uncle. Saw what you did to him. He confirmed your name, your face… everything. What you did it… it wasn’t right.”

                Facilier huffed out a laugh. “Well, I would say that Rita’s uncle should have known better than to ask a witch doctor for a hoodoo cure to his problems. Not my fault he took my deal.”

                Tiana shivered visible. “You still didn’t have to do that to him!”

                “Listen Miss Tiana, I chose this path long ago. It’s what I do. It’s who I am.”

                “No it’s not!” Tiana said sharply, “You’ve never been anything but sweet to me, and- ow! L-Let go!”

                Facilier loosened the tight grip on her wrist, but didn’t remove it. “Let me give you a couple pieces of advice from an old man. First one is that a pretty young thing like you shouldn’t assume a man is nice just because they’re sweet to them. That’s how nice young ladies end up married to men that hit them when they get tired of being nice.”

                Tiana let out a soft cry and pulled her hand free at last, looking at Facilier with a touch of fear in her eyes as the man’s shadow detached and grew tall on the wall behind him, flexing its hands.

                “And the other advice,” Facilier said as he stood from his seat, “Is that if the Shadow Man ever comes knocking at your door asking for a deal, you better be very clear on the terms before you sign anything.”

                Tiana was still shaking as Facilier’s shadow rejoined its master, who dropped an entire twenty dollar bill on the table. “Keep the change,” he said evenly as he strolled out through the café doors, Tiana’s stare following him out.

*

                “What are you doing in here? I thought I would have seen the last of you,” Tiana said in a level voice soon after Facilier sat down in his usual spot the next morning.

                “We have a deal,” Facilier said in an equally level voice, eyes trained on the front page of the morning paper. “One coffee, one butter-town pastry.”

                Tiana paused, a flurry of emotions passing over her face unseen by the Shadow Man before she nodded firmly. “Yeah… yeah I guess we do.”

                She brought the coffee and the pastry. That was the last personal conversation Facilier had with the waitress at Café Duke.

                Maybe that made him bitter, eventually.

*

                _“You’re almost there.”_

_“Daddy never got what he wanted, but he had what he needed. He had love!”_

_“You should have taken my offer!”_

_The best deal he had ever offered. She would have had everything, if she’d only just-_

_“ARE YOU READY?”_

_“No, I’m not ready!”_

_“NO!”_

                The Other Side is a dark place. And cold.

                His body didn’t exist anymore. He was only one consciousness among many, many souls, his life force used to strengthen demons far beyond his comprehension. It hurt, but in a distant way, like a chronic ache you eventually numb to when you sit still long enough.

                The real pain was boredom. And loneliness. He could feel the souls pressed against him in an absent way, but could interact with no one. With nothing.

                Distance and pain. That was all he had left. But he had come to accept it, with time. Facilier had chosen this path long ago. It was who he was.

                _“No it’s not, you were never anything but sweet to me!”_

                That girl really was something else. Facilier hoped she got that little restaurant of hers. Her dreams deserved to come true more than his did.

 

*

                 Tiana told her customers and Naveen that the small table in the VIP section that she always left open on reserve was a symbolic gesture 'for a man who contributed a lot in my early days to getting this restaurant made. In fact you could say without him it would never have existed as it is!'

                Of course everyone assumed she left it for her beloved Daddy. 

                Tiana would leave a cup of coffee and a butter pastry on the table every morning before opening rush. When she left them she would mutter softly so only she could hear.

                  _"A deal's a deal, Shadow Man."_


End file.
